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Introducing Your New Member Console

This update on margaretriver.com comes to you at an exciting time, as since last Friday’s announcement of the direct air service from Melbourne to Busselton, we have seen the number of Melbourne-based users of the website more than double.

Margaretriver.com is the region’s number one destination authority and is used by over 832,000 visitors from around the world each year. With more and more users finding the website to help with their holiday planning, it’s never been more important to ensure that your own listing at margaretriver.com showcases your business in the best possible way.

A Great New Way to Update Your Listing at Margaretriver.com

Your new member console has been designed as a user-friendly way to update your listing at margaretriver.com, the mobile app and the Visitor Centre touchscreens. It is so easy to use that you can even update your listing from your mobile phone.

Following a series of training sessions, your new console will be available when you log into your user account at mrbta.com. Here you will be able to update:

  • Your business overview (short summary)
  • Your business description
  • Your room/tour descriptions (bookable product)
  • Your facilities
  • Your images

Preview: How the console looks

1. Your dashboard upon logging in at mrbta.com/login
(Essentials members will also see the number of click-throughs their ‘Book Direct’ or ‘Visit Website’ button has received):

2. Uploading your images (this can be done directly from your mobile phone):

3. Entering your business description:

Working alongside you for success

The MRBTA team will manually review all listings to check that they meet the recommendations of our style guide. This is crucial to ensure that margaretriver.com continues to be the most trusted online authority on the region for visitors.

For Essentials members: Click-through counter

If your business has an Essentials membership, on logging into your console you will see a counter showing the number of click-throughs that your ‘Book Direct’ or ‘Visit Website’ button has received.

The number you see will be a higher and more accurate number compared with your Google Analytics referral data. Why? Because a worldwide shift towards greater online privacy means that not all user activity is tracked via Google Analytics. Apple’s operating systems, for example, do not log all Google Analytics data, and the Firefox browser blocks Google Analytics tracking altogether.

Working with Bookeasy

If your product is non-bookable, you will no longer use Bookeasy to update your listings at margaretriver.com.

If you have a bookable product and do not use a channel manager, we recommend that you continue to update your rates and availability via Bookeasy so that our Visitor Centre and Central Reservations team can continue to book your product through the enquiries that we receive.

If you have a bookable product and you do use a channel manager, you can continue to channel your rates and availability to Bookeasy via this method.

Getting started: Training sessions

The roll-out of the console will begin with a series of training sessions. Please register your interest in attending below. We will group members according to business type and location, and you will receive an invitation by email.

Coming soon at margaretriver.com

The new member console is the first of a number of developments at margaretriver.com which will be rolled out during this membership year. Please find below a summary of the work that has been scheduled:

November 2019: New (front-end) member listing design launch

Once you have updated your member listing in the new console, a refreshed member listing design will be launched on the front end of margaretriver.com.

Designed for mobiles first, the new listings will do a better job of showcasing what your business has to offer at first glance. Events and editorial featuring your business will automatically appear on your listing to strengthen your business presence.

Essentials members will also benefit from a more prominent ‘Visit Website’ or ‘Book Now’ button to direct visitors straight to your own website.

February 2020: margaretriver.com restructure

Margaretriver.com will undergo a comprehensive reorganisation of its content, complete with a main navigation menu restructure. The restructure will be made in line with industry trends and consumer testing.

The criteria for categorisation of member experiences will be tightened to improve usability for consumers.

Behind the scenes, important website software updates will be rolled out to improve speed and navigation, and to allow more content to be distributed from margaretriver.com to mobile apps and visitor centre touchscreens.

Ongoing: New content calendars released each season

The seasonal content calendars are an opportunity to ensure that your business stands out from the crowd. These are new opportunities which have not been offered to members historically.

Costs are separate to the price of membership, and range from $69 for blog buy-ins, to $1200 for campaign partnerships. Pricing is based on covering the cost of professional content writers and paid social media boosts. View the calendars for 2019/20.